Scotland squad to face Poland (H) and Portugal (A)

[Old Bing]

33 minutes ago, shivute said:

At which point do we give lennon miller serious consideration. Just turner 18 and already played 45 first team games. Not just played but actually stood out in the majority of these as looking a level above those around him. Should we not start giving him a test at this level now. 

Albeit a different scenario but spain recognise that some young players are special cases and put them to senior football straight away,.

I think it's when he's won more trophy's than James Forrest.

[Chripper]

7 hours ago, No_Problemo said:

Why would there be a question of where Mebude’s allegiances are…

He was born In England.

I would do the same with Dembele, Hackney and both Fletcher twins.

The squad has to be freshened up. Even if that means calling up youngsters with the sole intention of integration and assimilation.

If that means looking at eligible, so be it.

[Skyline Drifter]

58 minutes ago, Gordopolis said:

My take: a realistic balance of new and exciting vs Clarke stoic approach (bolded ones are the younger 'refresh' players):

Gunn
Clark
McRorie

Hanley
Hendry
McKenna
Porteous
Souttar

Robertson
Doig

Ralston
Johnston

Gilmour
Barron
McTominay
McGinn
Armstrong
Christie
 

Dykes
Adams
Shankland
Conway
Doak

Wildcards - in increasing order of unlikeliness - might be: Gauld, Dembele, Livramento

Presumably the uncapped Johnston should be boldened also? There's probably also an argument that McCrorie should be , albeit he's been in and out of squads for years. He's still uncapped though and it's the first time he'd be genuinely selected as a top three pick rather than because two of the other four were unavailable.

[Skyline Drifter]

1 minute ago, Chripper said:

He was born In England.

I would do the same with Dembele, Hackney and both Fletcher twins.

The squad has to be freshened up. Even if that means calling up youngsters with the sole intention of integration and assimilation.

If that means looking at eligible, so be it.

You do know you aren't actually allowed to kidnap players and insist they show up, right?

 

[Chripper]

Oh. I'd also be looking at Lennon Miller, Lyall Cameron and Ross Graham, too.

Essentially, I'd keep the core of the squad with a few new faces thrown in, in order to shake things up.

Not going to easy being In a group with Poland and Portugal (and Croatia), but that's what happens when you do well and get promoted in the Nations League.

We should be proud to be in League A and to be amongst the big boys.

[craigkillie]

1 hour ago, shivute said:

At which point do we give lennon miller serious consideration. Just turner 18 and already played 45 first team games. Not just played but actually stood out in the majority of these as looking a level above those around him. Should we not start giving him a test at this level now. 

Albeit a different scenario but spain recognise that some young players are special cases and put them to senior football straight away,.

We should definitely be thinking about him at this point, the midfield is going to be quite different with presumably McGregor, Jack and Armstrong all missing, so we need to be looking at others. He's clearly nowhere near getting in the team ahead of Gilmour, McGinn, McTominay or even Christie, but he would gain a lot from it and looks like he is going to be a Scotland player down the line anyway.

He's obviously not long into the U21s though, so I think it's just about fair enough if they want to test him at that level again given that the next game is against Spain and he'd learn a lot from that.

[craigkillie]

Johnston still has the same problem he had all of last season, he isn't playing very much football. Obviously it does also apply to Ralston too, and it's a problem position in general with the injuries, but it's hard to know how sharp he'd be coming into the main squad when he's getting 10 minutes here and there in a fairly average league.

[accies1874]

I'm pretty certain that Miller will play for Scotland some point soon, but I'm still a bit wary given how much Turnbull has bottomed out. Miller seems to be a hell of a lot more talented, but is he not also quite lacking in athleticism in a similar way to Turnbull?

[Butters Scotch]

1 hour ago, Chripper said:

Oh. I'd also be looking at Lennon Miller, Lyall Cameron and Ross Graham, too.

Essentially, I'd keep the core of the squad with a few new faces thrown in, in order to shake things up.

Not going to easy being In a group with Poland and Portugal (and Croatia), but that's what happens when you do well and get promoted in the Nations League.

We should be proud to be in League A and to be amongst the big boys.

Not seen much of Miller or Cameron but Ross Graham I'm a united fan and can tell you he is no better than what there is currently, can't see him getting close to any Scotland setup. 

[Londonwell]

34 minutes ago, accies1874 said:

I'm pretty certain that Miller will play for Scotland some point soon, but I'm still a bit wary given how much Turnbull has bottomed out. Miller seems to be a hell of a lot more talented, but is he not also quite lacking in athleticism in a similar way to Turnbull?

I’m not sure I’d agree that Miller is a hell of lot more talented than Turnbull. Turnbull has ability for days, the other holes in his game appear to be what’s holding him back.

Miller for all his promise is still a bit away from being at the level of a full internationalist (imo). There’s still inconsistencies in his game, which isn’t a surprise considering he’s just turned 18.
 

Re. his athleticism I’d say there’s been an improvement on that front. He has struggled slightly when pushed further forward and seems to much prefer sitting at the base of the midfield and dictating play. The positive is with Motherwell’s injuries, he’s pretty much played every centre mid role and that can only be good for his development. Leave him to that and forget about any full cap for the time being.

[Butters Scotch]

51 minutes ago, craigkillie said:

We should definitely be thinking about him at this point, the midfield is going to be quite different with presumably McGregor, Jack and Armstrong all missing, so we need to be looking at others. He's clearly nowhere near getting in the team ahead of Gilmour, McGinn, McTominay or even Christie, but he would gain a lot from it and looks like he is going to be a Scotland player down the line anyway.

He's obviously not long into the U21s though, so I think it's just about fair enough if they want to test him at that level again given that the next game is against Spain and he'd learn a lot from that.

 

Really infuriates me that we are probably the worst nation at introducing teenagers to the national setup so can't see him getting a call up until he is at least 20 and performing elsewhere in a better league (unless he goes to the old firm). 

If he was Welsh he would be 99 percent in their squad. 

Edited August 26 by Butters Scotch

[adamntg]

1 hour ago, Butters Scotch said:

Not seen much of Miller or Cameron but Ross Graham I'm a united fan and can tell you he is no better than what there is currently, can't see him getting close to any Scotland setup. 

Absolutely.  He’s not bad, but he’s never an international player just yet.   He can barely keep Kevin Holt out of the team. 

[Londonwell]

4 hours ago, Butters Scotch said:

Really infuriates me that we are probably the worst nation at introducing teenagers to the national setup so can't see him getting a call up until he is at least 20 and performing elsewhere in a better league (unless he goes to the old firm). 

If he was Welsh he would be 99 percent in their squad. 

You’ve just said you’ve not seen much of him so I’m not sure how you can be infuriated. He’s not ready yet, I’m not sure what he’d gain really from a call up. Let him develop his game and we can take it from there. 

Edited August 26 by Londonwell

[Butters Scotch]

14 minutes ago, Londonwell said:

You’ve just said you’ve not seen much of him so I’m not sure how you can be infuriated. He’s not ready yet, I’m not sure what he’d gain really from a call up. Let him develop his game and we can take it from there. 

Its infuriating we don't fast track youngsters into the national team in general I was meaning 

[Londonwell]

6 minutes ago, Butters Scotch said:

Its infuriating we don't fast track youngsters into the national team in general I was meaning 

You need the young players at a required level to be able to fast track. I don’t believe there’s too many options to be able to do that. There’s Ben Doak (who again still has a long way to go) who is being pushed into the squad without much first team exposure, so there’s a willingness there but again it’s dependent on exceptional talents being available.
 

The frustration for me is that Scottish football hasn’t produced too many of those talents in recent history. We have lots of decent young players but the vast majority are atleast a step away from first team football. 

[Ray Patterson]

I like Graham a lot, and I think one day he could get to that level, but he's significantly short of playing against Portugal and Poland.

He would be far more adept for a B international - if they were still a thing.

[Butters Scotch]

1 hour ago, Londonwell said:

You need the young players at a required level to be able to fast track. I don’t believe there’s too many options to be able to do that. There’s Ben Doak (who again still has a long way to go) who is being pushed into the squad without much first team exposure, so there’s a willingness there but again it’s dependent on exceptional talents being available.
 

The frustration for me is that Scottish football hasn’t produced too many of those talents in recent history. We have lots of decent young players but the vast majority are atleast a step away from first team football. 

Most of the current national team players could of been capped a lot earlier than they did but In typical Scottish fashion you get the naysayers saying they 'aren't ready'. 

Do you not think Miller for example would actually develop faster if he were training alongside the players In the national team? There's a reason countries like Wales throw their youngsters in from 17 years of age 

 

[Skyline Drifter]

1 hour ago, Butters Scotch said:

There's a reason countries like Wales throw their youngsters in from 17 years of age 

Yes there is. Its that Wales are a small nation with a smaller talent pool than we have and they need to do it with anyone remotely competent.

It doesnt follow that they then necessarily develop as you'd hope. For every Gareth Bale there is a Ben Woodburn.

[PSJ.84]

Matt Smith having 19 caps before his 23rd birthday sums this up nicely. 

[Butters Scotch]

5 hours ago, Skyline Drifter said:

Yes there is. Its that Wales are a small nation with a smaller talent pool than we have and they need to do it with anyone remotely competent.

It doesnt follow that they then necessarily develop as you'd hope. For every Gareth Bale there is a Ben Woodburn.

There's not a big difference in population and talent pool between the two and they've been out performing us for decades now barring the last year but that could quite easily flip once again. Maybe they are onto something with their youth policy?